This invention relates to the design of microwave components and, in particular, to designs which incorporate geometrically-shaped elements within a waveguide structure and utilize the microwave manipulation characteristics associated therewith, and production of primary (near) and secondary (far) fields, to satisfy specified performance requirements.
Present waveguide design techniques rely on the fields generated by physical attributes such as internal contours and slot arrays but these physical attributes are difficult to control by reason of limiting manufacturing tolerances, operational variations, environmental changes and the target performance requirements. As a result, the present devices have associated with them undesirable performance losses and costs.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a microwave component configured for satisfying predetermined performance characteristics. A channel is provided and one or more geometrically-shaped elements are positioned within the channel, wherein the number, dimensions and spacing of the elements determine the performance characteristics of the waveguide.